MGSN PhD student Gemma Potter is exploring crossovers between craft and digital gaming as part of doctoral program Transformation North West. At this event, Gemma will share her research approach through which she has co-created a series of grafted games in order to assess the potential of these crossovers for the manufacturing industry in the North West. Gemma will discuss her research before inviting you to think about how the grafting approach could be applied to other contexts.

 The event will include the chance to play both of the grafted games developed in collaboration with artist/technologist James Medd:

Hazuki Knit

Hazuki Knit

This two-player game is controlled by a hand-powered knitting machine and will test your ability to remain focused and keep rhythm whilst your opponent/collaborator in knitting. Using a simple mechanic inspired by quick time events experienced in games such as Dragon’s Lair, Shenmue, Resident Evil 4, and Metal Gear Rising, the game is easy to pick up but endlessly frustrating when you mess up.

Pocket Racer

Pocket Racer

Developed in response to observations made in garment factory Cookson & Clegg (Blackburn), Pocket Racer is a raving game that uses a sewing machine to challenge players to sew around a pocket template as fast as possible. It’s not only about speed though; racers will be disqualified if their stitching is inaccurate and they deviate from the track.

This is an in-person event. We are following government guidance relating to Covid-19. We ask that all attendees register so that we are able to manage numbers accurately and so that we are able to contact participants should we need to make any changes to the event. Government guidance on Covid-19 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. Manchester Metropolitan University’s Covid-19 Safety information can be found here: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/student-life/safety/covid-19/.

This event is open to all and is free to attend. Please book your tickets here: